Community Research Fellowship

The Community Research Fellowship connects undergraduate students with community partners and faculty members to participate in research. With the community partner and faculty member serving as guides, this unique fellowship allows students to participate in community-based research with the community.

Students who engaged in a service-learning course or an academic internship may continue working with their community partner site through this research fellowship. Drawing from research inquiries that address the assets and pressing needs of our communities, the research questions often emerge from the community and experiences of students in the community. This fellowship encourages the use of creative methodological approaches that honor the knowledge and experience of community members as a source of knowledge. Students may engage in various research paradigms and methodologies based on the community partner research questions. For example, students may help community organizations evaluate programs (evaluation research), conduct community asset-mapping, or facilitate interviews for narratives. Students may identify their community partner and faculty mentor, as well as their research question and methodological approaches, on their own. Student may also choose to apply to the featured community research opportunities below.

2018-2019 Community Research Fellowship Opportunity with Chicago Children’s Museum –Chicago Children’s Museum currently welcomes nearly 30,000 students and chaperones through field trips during the year. We provide rich, hands-on learning experiences for children throughout Chicago and the surrounding area. Roughly 25 of our partner schools per year are provided with chaperone tools to help guide discussion and prompt critical thinking while in the exhibit spaces.This community research fellowship opportunity will assess the impact of our teacher-created “chaperone tool” on the Chicago Children’s Museum field trip experience. Learn more here.

For example, a community partner Taller de José (www.tallerdejose.org) is a community resource center offering services of accompaniment. Based in the Little Village neighborhood of Chicago, our clients are predominantly Latino, and many are immigrants from Mexico and Central America. Taller de José is interested in collecting narratives from the individuals we serve to learn more about their experiences. Taller de José would work with students to collect narratives from clients, utilizing an interview protocol. In working together with the student(s), Executive Director of Taller de Jose, and a faculty mentor, you would collaboratively identify themes and respond to the identified research questions around client experience. Students must be proficient in English and Spanish.

Students are encouraged to identify their community partner and faculty mentor on their own, as well as their research question and methodological approaches in the application. Apply to the Community Research Fellowship online.

Award

The meaningful rewards of a fellowship have little to do with money, but the program does provide financial support. Fellows receive a $1,000 award paid in three installments, $250 at the beginning of their term of research, $500 midway through, and $250 in the spring, after they present at Loyola’s spring research symposium.

Research Budgets

Additionally, fellows can apply to receive up to $1,000 in a research budget. The research budget is not awarded as a lump sum. For each request, fellows and mentors must submit a budget request to lurop@luc.edu including whatever additional documentation is required depending on the method you are using to access the budget. Both mentor and fellow should always be on the e-mail submitting these forms. There are several different ways fellows and mentors access research budgets.